Millen disappointed at Cup exit

Last updated : 08 January 2011 By BBC Sport

Manager Alan Irvine was full of praise for his Sheffield Wednesday team after they reached the FA Cup fourth round for the first time since 2001.Second half goals from Gary Teale, Neil Mellor and Clinton Morrison gave the League One side a 3-0 victory away to Championship strugglers Bristol City.

"I've just been told that it's 10 years since we have got this far," he said.

"You would think a club of this size would have done better, but it makes this result even more pleasing."

City had the upper hand in the first half but Irvine's half-time team talk paved the way for a much-improved display after the break.

Got to take this result and confidence from it and replicate in the league now!!

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"I told the players at half-time that they were better than they were showing. We gave the ball away too much and did not show enough self-belief," he said.

"The second half performance was tremendous. Goals change games and by the end everyone wanted the ball and every player was showing composure on it.

"I'm not bothered who we get in the next round, but we have had two away ties out of three so far and it would be nice to be drawn at home.

"[Defenders] Michael Morrison and Reda Johnson could hardly have hoped for better debuts. We won't get carried away by one performance but defensively we looked very strong."

City boss Keith Millen admitted: "We were weak mentally after falling behind and the dressing-room was too quiet afterwards.

"We looked a bad side in the second half and it showed we still have a lot of work to do over the rest of the season.

"It was a damaging result financially for the club and just how bad we will only know when we see who Wednesday draw in the next round.

"I have sent all my players home with a DVD of the match and will be looking for a response from them at our next training session."

To complete a bad day for Millen, on-loan defender Steven Caulker was forced off after only nine minutes with a hip injury and second half substitute Christian Ribeiro tore a hamstring only 11 minutes after being introduced.

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport